Five years of Fairtrade Cotton

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Almost five years ago, shortly after the first Fairtrade cotton clothing appeared on shop shelves, Martine Julseth returns to  India to see what five years of Fairtrade cotton has meant for farmers and their communities.
 
I remember that as we drove along the dusty roads which wound ever further into the countryside, the landscape became increasingly barren. After several hours we reached our destination, a tiny village near Rapar in Gujarat’s Kutch, a vast plain described as India’s ‘last frontier’. The salt in the soil makes this low-lying marsh area almost impossible to cultivate in the summer season. But it was early springtime, so the landscape was still green, despite the baking sun.

Fast forward to late 2009, and I am back in Rapar, this time with model and TV presenter Lisa Butcher, to see the impact that Fairtrade has had on farming communities. The trip marks the start of the fifth anniversary of Fairtrade cotton, a year jampacked with exciting activities to encourage the industry to make fashion fairer.

We visit the brick farmhouse of charismatic cotton farmer Rhudiben, from the Malyasa Farming Community, who describes what Fairtrade has brought to her village: ‘Since joining the Fairtrade system, the premium from our sales has helped our community in many ways, including putting a noncontaminated water system into our local primary school. It’s also put in a new kitchen, bought new books for the children and helped them build a composting and herb garden. I have received more rupees for my cotton with Fairtrade which is much better
because I am providing a better education for my children’.

‘We have built water conservation projects and installed solar powered street lighting in villages. We are very proud of what we have achieved.’ Seeing the village school today and all the improvements that the premium had funded, Lisa was struck by how much could be achieved in such a short time. She said ‘now that I can see what Fairtrade does, how it helps the farmers and their families and the community, I will never go back to not buying Fairtrade ever again.’ To promote Fairtrade cotton, Lisa and other top models took part in a photo shoot with celebrity photographer Trevor Leighton, celebrity stylist Rachel Fanconi and team.

Roll back the years to when I met newly certified cotton farmer Khima Rinchhod and his family under a leafy acacia tree.

The Rinchhod family home was a traditional thatched mud house surrounded by cattle sheds. Hope shone from his weather beaten face as he told us how Fairtrade was going to make a difference to his village. I see that today most of the farmers have constructed concrete houses.

I remember how, as I listened to Khima’s account of life as a cotton farmer, I began to understand the complexities of the cotton trading system and the ruthlessness of local traders who prey upon small farming families dependent on an income from the backbreaking toil that is cotton farming. ‘We would deliver the cotton by bullock cart but the trader would always find a reason to give us a bad price. It’s better for us to sell cotton to Agrocel because the price we get is much higher – the Fairtrade price makes a real difference to my family. Agrocel weighs the raw cotton fibre accurately and doesn’t try to exploit me like the local cotton dealers used to do’.

In the Khima’s village today, we heard the same message from the cotton farmers as they showed off their premium projects. Loud and clear they told us that it was down to shoppers on the high streets to choose Fairtrade: ‘Please keep buying our Fairtrade cotton - you can see for yourselves how this is helping
us transform our community.’

Join the celebrations of five years of Fairtrade cotton at www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/cotton